Arab-American Activist Says Obama Hiding Anti-Israel Stance

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http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125656

(IsraelNN.com) Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama is currently hiding his anti-Israel views in order to get elected, according to a well-known anti-Israel activist. The activist, Ali Abunimah, claimed to know Obama well and to have met him on numerous occasions at pro-Palestinian events in Chicago.

In an article he penned for the anti-Israeli website Electronic Intifada, Abunimah wrote:

"The last time I spoke to Obama was in the winter of 2004 at a gathering in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. He was in the midst of a primary campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat he now occupies. But at that time polls showed him trailing.

[N1095A]

Re: Arab-American Activist Says Obama Hiding Anti-Israel Stance

This is Obama (and Michelle) with Edward Said (from the Electronic Intifada website quoted in the article) - 1998 I believe

[N1095A]

Re: Arab-American Activist Says Obama Hiding Anti-Israel Stance


Edward Said exercising his right to free speech by throwing
a rock at Israeli soldiers on the border with Lebanon

http://www.campus-watch.org/pics.php

[N1095A]

Re: Arab-American Activist Says Obama Hiding Anti-Israel Stance

Here's why I show Edward Said

Over the years since I first saw Obama speak I met him about half a dozen times, often at Palestinian and Arab-American community events in Chicago including a May 1998 community fundraiser at which Edward Said was the keynote speaker. In 2000, when Obama unsuccessfully ran for Congress I heard him speak at a campaign fundraiser hosted by a University of Chicago professor. On that occasion and others Obama was forthright in his criticism of US policy and his call for an even-handed approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

What the Electronic Intifada (Remeber Yasser Arafat started the 2000 Intifada against Israel) website is basically saying is that Obama appeared pro-Israel because he was behind in the election numbers for Senate. So he took a stance that supported AIPAC. This is what the website is basically claiming. I'll post the link if wanted (referenced in the INN article) but it leads to an anti-Israel site...so I won't post it unless it is specifically requested.

[Christian Soldier]

Re: Arab-American Activist Says Obama Hiding Anti-Israel Stance

2000 was a long time ago. Perhaps Barack Obama has changed his stripes since. It was only last year he and Rick Warren shared the same Saddleback Church stage and received Mr. Warren's backing. Rick Warren isn't anti-Israel I don't think.

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Re: Arab-American Activist Says Obama Hiding Anti-Israel Stance

from the Huffington Post, re: Obama's Pali sympathies

The Problem of Rashid Khalidi:

Khalidi, now the Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia University, and head of that school's Middle East Institute, declined to comment on Abunimah's recollections. But in an interview in Tuesday's Daily News, he said he hosted the fundraiser because he and Obama were friends while the two lived in Chicago. "He never came to us and said he would do anything in terms of Palestinians," Khalidi told the paper.

Nevertheless, one Hyde Park source close to Obama, speaking only on condition of anonymity, recalled, "He often expressed general sympathy for the Palestinians -- though I don't recall him ever saying anything publicly."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/larry-...s_b_87036.html

[Christian Soldier]

Re: Arab-American Activist Says Obama Hiding Anti-Israel Stance

Barack Obama's father is a Muslim and Barack himself has acknowledged his Muslim faith. Muslims generally sympathize with the Palestinian people's plight. The key is whether Barack as a Christian is fervent about Israel's right to exist alongside a Palestinian State.

[N1095A]

Re: Arab-American Activist Says Obama Hiding Anti-Israel Stance

I stopped by a Barnes and Noble near me and picked up a copy of "The Audacity of Hope". I was looking for a specific reference claimed but did not find it. I may not have had the right page.

However, from what I read in one section (paraphrasing) he remembered growing up in a house that didn't care for Christians who condemned 3/4 of the world to (unsaved) and the ridiculous notion that the world was created in 6 days.

I don't remember the page number. If I'm in there again I'll try to find it but I was flipping through pages 80-100 looking for a supposed quote.

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Re: Arab-American Activist Says Obama Hiding Anti-Israel Stance

The key is whether Barack as a Christian is fervent about Israel's right to exist alongside a Palestinian State.

Obama has stated that he supports Israel's right to exist but has no qualms about dividing the nation and the Bible can't be used to justify not dividing Israel. Link is on my website. Look for this text and click.

Senator Barack Obama:
Dividing Israel doesn't make me anti-Israel
(God of Israel: Daniel 11:37-39 and Joel 3:2)

Obama: Backing the Jews' Biblical, historical
and legal claim to all of the land in question
'can't be a measure of friendship with Israel'